Sunday, July 11, 2010

OH MY GOSH IT'S HOT OUTSIDE. We live in southern Oregon where we seem to enjoy winter about nine months out of the year. Did I say "enjoy?" Because, by June, when it's still snowing outside, I WANT TO KILL SOMEONE. Since it's usually so cold and mild, many of the homes here do not have air conditioning. Including ours. And every year we go through the same ordeal... Dr. Hempel cannot tolerate the heat. Each year we discuss if this is THE YEAR we should purchase central air conditioning. We pull out all of the window units, drag out the fans, open the windows in the morning, close them shortly after to trap the cool air... And really, it's not too bad. By the time we call & get some estimates on installing central a/c, the temperatures start dropping and we decide to put it off for another year.

Instead of focusing on all of the horrible things about summer heat, I'd like to share some of my favorite things about summer:

1) We have a beautiful yard. I love watering the plants and sitting under the shade of our patio umbrella, enjoying the view.

2) Taking the kids to the pool has become much more fun and less of a chore. Corbin is becoming brave around the water, this year, and Lauren has turned in to a fish. I keep checking behind her ears for gills...

3) I love seeing the little kids with their butts hanging out of the backs of their swimsuits. I think little kids in their swim wear is the cutest thing and I have to sit on my hands to keep myself from pinching those little summer booties.

4) There's SO MUCH TO DO when it's nice outside! We're hiking, biking, camping, swimming, visiting with friends, having kids over, going to the lake, digging in the dirt, harvesting our garden... exploring... just HAVING FUN!!

5) Watermelon, peaches, pears, oranges, cooking on the grill, not as hungry because of the heat... just eating, in general, during the summer. Good stuff.

Now... I mentioned some "administrative changes" that were coming to the blog so here's the deal...

I've decided to blog Sunday - Friday & take Saturdays off. BECAUSE... most of you people don't check in on the blog Saturday/Sunday. (Except the few of you who must really REALLY love me and to those people... back at'cha.) You can assume that I am not working out, for the most part, on Saturday/Sunday. From now on I will be posting a blog Sunday night that will have the weekend's give away listed. And I will give one thing away, for the weekend, but it will always be a "good" thing! Then, if I happen to flake out during the week, I'll have an additional give away. BUT DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH. I'm trying REALLY hard to not flake out! : )

Which brings me to today's giveaway.... you've read all of my crap... you're wanting me to get to the good stuff... so here it goes:

As hot as it is, summer treats are very important. Here in Klamath Falls, we go to the Frosty Spoon where we can buy frozen yogurt that is FREAKING AMAZING and has 32 calories per serving. But you may not be so lucky... you may have to make your OWN frozen yogurt.

To enter the contest, please answer the following question in the comments section:

What is your favorite summertime outdoor activity?

I will accept entries for this contest until midnight, July 13, 2010. Only one entry per person... Winners are chosen randomly, usually by me demanding one of the children give me a "number between one and however-many-entries-we-get" and I never ask Corbin because he doesn't know how to count very well. The winner is responsible for coming back to the blog to claim their prize. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, June 14th and will be required to email me at rebuildingamy@gmail.com.
WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO KNOW??!

Okay. I'm done. The house is a mess, it's midnight, and I have a million things on my plate for tomorrow. But I'll be back. Yes-sir-ee... you can bet your bottom dollar. 'Cause this is my blog and I like it here. It's old, worn, and has an odd smell... but it's home. Really... I need to sign off now....

61 comments:

My favorite summer activity I don't get to do much anymore. Catching fireflies. Not exactly a super high energy activity but it is a summer activity I can remember as a kid. I live in the city now, no lightning bugs here, and the other things I loved doing, like swimming I do year round now (although I don't get to swim outside, in the middle of the night or in the rain)

My favorite is kayaking at a lake with my daughter. Racing from point "A" to point "B", getting into a water fight then finding the perfect picnic spot with our favorite lunch. Hoagies, with all the fixin's. Oh...and she always brings Oreos. (I don't like Oreos. So no temptation there.)

I actually miss the mild weather. It's so hot and humid in GA that outside summer activities are few and far between. I also miss the mountains. I'd have to say my favorite outdoor summery activity would be anything in the mountains. Camping, hiking, swimming, fishing....

I live in Arizona so, like your winter, we have summer 9 months of the year. I am not loving it right now (it was 108 yesterday) The only really tolerable activity is swimming and even then early morning or evening only:)Here our favorite summer activities are movies, rollerskating and bowling. lol!

My favorite summer activity is working in my yard. I am a farm girl at heart and love digging around in the dirt and seeing the results. The boy love helping as well, however they get distracted easily and start water fights and pick the flowers instead of the weeds!

My favorite activity is sitting on the front porch, sipping some nice cold cherry lime Chrystal Light,while people watching. Although...I must say, I went to Park City, which is much cooler than Salt Lake, and did the Zip line at the Olymic Park....it was a BLAST!! If I could afford it, I would do that at least once a week!!

What is my favorite summertime activity. PLAYING OUTSIDE WITH MY KIDDOS!!! Jumping on the trampoline, swimming, going to the lake and there are so much more. I love SUMMER except when it is so FREAKING HOT that I can't sleep in my own house. Central Air conditioning sounds good; but, what's the point? The heat only lasts a couple of weeks out of the year right? haha!

My favorite activity is being in the back yard with my husband and two little boys and filling up buckets of water balloons to throw at each other. My son must ask to do that 15,000 times a day. (We also love watching our tomatoes growing!).

I live in AZ, so I can relate on the HEAT. It isn't even 9am & it is over 100 degrees. Ughh. So...my favorite summer time activity? Running through the sprinklers! Something about this just makes me you feel like a kid again!:)

I would LOVE the "frozen yogurt" maker & with my recent weight loss goals, that is ALL I would be able to make! Crossing my fingers....

my favorite summer activity is definitely swimming during the day in the sunshine with my kids/family. in the evening once the sun has set, i love to sit and watch the kids play a pick up game of wiffle-ball till it's too dark to play anymore. ah, summertime, you are wonderful.

My favorite summer activity is camping...OK it's not really but my husband REALLY likes it so we bought a small tent camper and our kids REALLY like it. And, there is a highlight for me - we have a girls side and a boys side. At night I get to snuggle my 6 year old and we read stories with flashlights and it is so nice. I think the boys have fun too, but the 4 year old flip-flops a lot in his sleep - sweet because Daddy likes camping SOOO MUCH he should have to sacrifice a little, right?

My fav summertime activity is definantly being at the baseball field watching my two boys play ball! There is always a slew of little sisters for my little girl to play with and they all make new best friends each summer! Just a fun, clean, whole-family time that we all look forward to:)

There are a lot of fun things to do during the summertime months! But my favorite has to be camping, so that I can go fishing and hiking! Nothing more refreshing than being out in the sun and soaking in the rays!

I have so many favorite things in the summer. Anything involving water- swimming, fishing, boating, hiking to waterfalls. I also love a backyard bbq with lots of fresh veggies and fruit and all my friends and family around.

My favorite summer activiy is usually going to Hot Springs Villiage and staying on the lake. This year we are not going there. Instead we are going to some place in VA where we are renting a cabin and we will have our own private lake. I love everything about it. Fish early in the morning, swimm in the middle of the lake mid day, fish early evening and catfish fishing late at night. The peace and quiet is wonderful.

I just found your blog from CJane. I love that you live in Oregon. I just traveled there last month for the first time and absolutely LOVED it. You are very lucky and I hope to travel there again really soon!My favorite summer activity is going to Rodeo's. It shouts SUMMER to me!

My favorite summer activities are swimming and hiking. There is nothing more refreshing than taking a dip in the pool to cool down or hiking in the mountains to cool down. LOVE summer and LOVE frozen yogurt!

My favorite summer activity is going to Yellowstone! It's so fun to be out and see the beauty and be with my husband. This year will be the first year we go with our little girl, hopefully she will love it too!

hot weather and I don't get along at all... esp. in the Northeast where it has been humid lately. I do love the short summer months though, and love to take walks in the early evening and then rest on the front porch for a bit with the cats and my daughter.

My favorite summer activity is reading a book in the back yard and soaking up the sun !!!! But for more of an excercise activity I have been meeting coworkers at the Henley Track and walking on weekend mornings !!!! The track is amazing and made from recycled tires so really good on your feet and feels great to achieve some excercise and catch up with coworkers about fun stuff instead of work.

My favorite is to garden in the mornings and eat cooled watermelon in the afternoon. If I win, I will use the many varieties of berries from our garden for our first batch of frozen yogurt. I am sure that could become a summer fav too.

I love summertime and my favorite activity/activities are all the active things we can do as a family. I love to run and love to run outside especially. Then we have the family bike rides, trips to the parks, trips to the pool, trips to the wavepool, and enjoying all the fairs and festivals that happen this time of year. Did I mention that I love summer time?

My favorite summer activities use to be riding my horses but haven't had them since high school :( but now it is keeping 3 boys busy during the summer with lots of water fights and playing soccer outside.

I just came across your blog and what jumped out at me was Klamth Falls. One of my closest friends grew up there (Christine Earl, I don't know her maiden name) I had never heard of the place before i met Her.

I live in Vegas. Summertime is rather ick here, and I burn so easily. When I was a child I would run through the sprinklers as soon as the sun went down. But now I don't have a lawn, so we go to the park where they have playgrounds that shoot out water, and my kids and I play on those.

As you know, living in Memphis, there are not to many outdoor summer activities that I would call my "Favorite" So I'll go with a spring/fall favorite outdoor activity. I love to chase my boys out in the backyard and play with them on the swing set.